Nelson Mandela Passes Away at 95, Musicians React

UG editorial team. A group of people who are passionate about guitar and music in general.

Posted on Dec 06, 2013 09:26 am

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As former South African President Nelson Mandela passed away yesterday (December 5) at the age of 95, the world has lost one of the key figures in human rights movement, a symbol of hope, integrity and resistance.
Spending 27 years in prison for opposing apartheid since 1962, Mandela emerged to become the first South African black president and a Nobel Peace Prize winner. He died peacefully at his Johannesburg home, surrounded by family and loved ones after spending three months in a Pretoria hospital for recurring lung infection.
"Our nation has lost its greatest son. Our people have lost a father. Although we knew that this day would come, nothing can diminish our sense of a profound and enduring loss," said South African President Jacob Zuma.
Condolences from around the globe were soon to follow, as some of the world leaders remembered a man considered to be the father of his nation. "He achieved more than could be expected of any man," said US President Barrack Obama, ordering the flags to be lowered at half staff. "He belongs to the ages."
Rock and metal musicians were also among the ones giving condolences through social networks, you can find their comments below. Rest in peace Mr. Mandela.

Really sad to hear we have lost the great Nelson Mandela, one of the few pillars of humanity we had left.

Grammar nazi or pointing out what should really be the basics for any editor? For a website which aims to be a legitimate outlet for music news - charging subscriptions for their work I might add - this is just highly unprofessional.

Someone right up there just compared fighting against the apartheid to being a mentally ill person and walking into a movie theater to kill people for no reason. I'm still lost for words.
Funniest part: the numbers they use to try to put Mandela against the wall... are numbers put out by the apartheid government. Historical inconsistency at its finest. I'm done arguing here.

Why does everyone feel so compelled to always write something bullshitty when someone notable dies?
"RIP Nelson Mandela, I never ****ing met you or wrote anything about you while you were still alive, but now when you're dead and gone I feel like I have to take 30 seconds out of my life to write something really non-specific and generic because everybody else is saying stuff. You were nice, cool, awesome and important....oh, ok, I'm starting to run out of non-specific positive adjectives that could be said about anyone, so don't ask me to say another word".
Seriously, what the hell? If you cared so much and really thought Mandela was so important, why didn't you publicly say a word about Mandela until the day he passed? I really don't get it...

I was thinking the same as I read those. Before his passing, they never said a single word about him. He dies and suddenly he's one of the most influential, inspiring people to have ever touched your life and you don't know how the world will carry on without him. Such BS.

He fought terrorism with terrorism.
His non-violent approach was doomed to fail.
Look at world leaders who wage war on other countries when they have done nothing to deserve it.
Mandela fought against slavery, apartheid, terrorism and murder. And he won. He freed a nation from one of the most oppressive regimes in the world. And he sacrificed the greater part of his life for it. I consider him a hero.

R.I.P Madiba. I wish he was president longer. He would have certainly ruled better than Mbeki or Zuma. It's quite sad, Mandela spent his whole life trying to correct the system and his successors just when and screwed it up.

As a South African, I have to say never has our country seen a greater individual whose selflessness and determination paved the freedom that we are all enjoying today. Your legacy will always live on. RIP Madiba

Wasn't Mandela a terrorist? Who attacked and killed civilians to get his way? Wasn't he given the choice of freedom in 1984 if he renounced is violence against said civilians but refused? Yeah, its great how the American media will cover up all terrible things he did and make him some kind of martyr.

Under Mandela, all "terrorist" acts were acts of sabotage against tools and machinery of the apartheid state (sabotage is a different form of "freedom fighting" than terrorism, but revisionists don't like to bring that up). He never targeted civilians and he, himself, never killed any. It wasn't until 2 decades after he was imprisoned, and arguably not involved with either the ANC or the MK that civilians became targets, how anyone can blame that on Mandela is beyond me, but I imagine it involves ignorance, lies and/or racism. There was actually a few people who opposed Mandela becoming leader of the movement again after his release because he had been away for so long, even. As for why he divorced his wife, and I assume you mean Winnie, I don't know. But perhaps it's because of her advocating the practice of "necklacing" while Mandela was in prison, something idiots like to blame Mandela for, for some weird reason. The "badhistory" sub on Reddit went about debunking all this nonsense the day he died. Quit being contrarian and/or trying to hide your obvious ignorance by claiming the media is covering something up.

If anything the american media didn't give two shits about the apartheid. You and eleven people are blind by the reality of life. Get out of your highschool class and go experience something real. Ve happy you live somewherethat will never experience the horrors they went through.

Man, your comment is probably the only reasonable comment in this news. People should learn the facts before glorifying Mandela. They should learn what was going on in RSA after 1994. One apartheid changed into another (which was slightly lighter). Not to mention he was a declared communist.

RIP Tata! So many of us in South Africa know what an incredible leader we had and that we probably won't have anyone of his caliber in the near future, if ever. Because of his promotion of forgiveness and unity, I get to live in a wonderfully diverse society and that is something that younger generations may take for granted. Wonderful to see people around the world honouring him.

A ****ing hero. Right up there with Malcolm X and Luther King as an icon that represents the fight against racial segregation. "No inequality worth speaking of" my arse.
Rest in peace, and thank you, Mandela.

He went to jail because he admitted to doing something against the law, if you do something against the law, you are going to have to suffer the consequences. He was a hero man. He fought for white people and black people coming together and make peace.

He was a terrible person who was funded by gaddafi. Both mandela and his wife kidnapped and tortured innocent people and liked to listen to their screams as they burned them alive. I don't care how long he was in prison for, he doesn't deserve any praise.

You are a complete moron. And apparently so are most the readers of UG. You are a very lucky person to not bave lived during the apartheid in south africa. If you think mandella doesn't deserve praise then you are a sick individual who probably condones the segregation and murder of an entire race. Get the **** out of here.

I do not agree with the final statement there, but the rest of that is correct. Mandela did become militant in his outlook as the ANC failed to achieve any real success through peaceful means, organized the Umkhonto we Sizwe, and then carried out bombings and other attacks [which he admitted to during his trial] which ultimately lead to his imprisonment.
The thing that does make him unique is that during his time in prison he did not become further radicalized and when he was released he became an advocate for peace and reconciliation. To bury any bitterness and treat with kindness those that had imprisoned him - and in a general sense, his people - for so long is remarkable. No doubt, he may have done some things along the way that could be considered acts of terror, but the Apartheid system made South Africa a pariah state to most of the world - the regime was evil and needed to be brought down.
Mandela deserves nothing but respect overall.

You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Do some research before you read something on cracked an think you made a discovery. You don't know what the apartheid was like. The fact that you have up votes is disgusting.

Nearly all posts dissing Mandela have upvotes, but the ones defending him and exposing decent argumentation are being downvoted to oblivion. I seriously expected more from UG readers. Fox News mentality all over.

Fox News is pretty good at calling Mandela a terrorist, which isn't true (I've argued about that just above you), and neither is something new. Nearly all countries in the world at the time of the apartheid called Mandela a terrorist. Give me more right wing news, man, I'll give you history books.
"Sheep" lol, because basing your political opinions on a TV channel obsessed with conspiracy and communism ISN'T being a sheep.

Yeah, its no wonder he changed his tune to peace and forgiveness to cover up his terrible past. Plus he did it so well that apparently it was forgotten and he got a presidency out of it. Hell, he even got to screw any woman he wanted to and nobody batted an eye.

So, the descendents of english and dutch people who would set explosives in the streets of "black/coloured neighborhoods" and blow people up were not terrorists? The South African state that haunted, murdered and tortured civilians based on their race wasn't aiming at civilians? The discrimination that the "dominant races" at the time of the apartheid put forward for decades wasn't violent? Every action has a reaction. Mandela wasn't a pacifist when he formed Umkhonto we Sizwe, he was a man decided to fight until the end for the demise of the racial segregation in South Africa. Unfortunately, violent revolutions were needed since forever to fight the establishment.
Also, he didn't aim for civilians. He aimed at government and military targets, and he actually took the time to try to minimalize civilian casualties every time a bombing was performed. If you check out the data about the "terrorist" attacks of the ANC, civilian deaths were always limited to tens, and frequently less than that (3, 5 people, etc). Not saying that this is any better, they're still deaths, but it's far away from the "targeting civilians" version.
Besides, he said in public that he regrets these acts several times. He even admitted them on his trial. Like the bloke above me said, after he got out of jail, he was much more of a pacifist. He buried all the bitterness. That quote that David Draiman posted on his twitter is actually true, you know. Of course he wasn't a saint, very few people are/were. But come on sir, come on... that's far, far away from making him a "POS", or staining his history as an icon of the fight against racial segregation.

but he didn't really change. he still was a hypocrite who shook hands with dictators who treated their countries terribly. He gave gaddafi the country's highest honor when he visited SA. And, posting this article on this site is ridiculous, it is irrelevant.

On the economic aspect, you're correct. He basically gave political and economic power to sectors of the ANC that were controlled by blacks, while not losing sight of the traditional established economic groups. This didn't do nothing to improve SA's quality of life, which is why they're still deep in shit nowadays. That's why I recognize him as an icon against racial segregation, not as an angel sent from heaven to end all wars down here.Mandela was close to Gaddafi because he helped him with fighting against apartheid by giving him money and training the ANC fighters, when everybody else refused to help.
Also, saying that he "shook hands with dictators" doesn't say much. Countries with different ideologies shake hands all the time, for political and economic reasons. For example, Canada is actually pretty close to Cuba when it comes to economic relationships, yet they are pretty different. Hell, Canada's PM even shook Fidel's hand once.
PS: I'm not too fond of both Fidel and Gaddafi, but they were among the few leaders that publicly rejected the apartheid back then.
I'm talking about his views on peace and racial equality. That did change.

Don't give me that "He wasn't an angel" bullshit. Thats like saying if in the future James Holmes got out of prison and started raising billions for AIDS research and became the world's greatest philanthropist, it would erase what he did in that movie theater. No matter what Mandela said or what he stood for, he cannot shrug off the terrible things he did or was a part of. And that's why I don't think it is appropriate for this mourning of him or having flags at half mast.

I've already made it pretty clear that his past can't be erased. What I don't think that should be erased from history is the icon that he is, as a symbol of resistance against racial segregation. He fought violence with violence at some points, but again, sadly most of the rights we (common people) have earned throughout history had blood envolved in the fight for them. Do you really think the segregational regime would peacefully give up to his demands? The armed resistance was vital to the demise of the apartheid, bruv. He earned his place in history, his merit is indelible. That's not giving you bullshit, that's just analyzing history.
Also, did you just compare a man fighting against the apartheid to a guy who is mentally ill and walked into a movie theater to shoot people for no reason? For real?

Furthermore: as an american, do you consider George Washington a hero or a terrorist? Because he started a war against the british colonization, using armed resistance, because the British Empire would bend the USA over and fist**** them. Be honest...
And btw, what kinds of "horrors" and "terrible things" are you talking about? When the ANC started burning people in the streets, Mandela was already in jail for a long time.
Oh **** I gotta go to sleep...

I feel that the "icon" that Mandela represents is severely skewed. I understand that he had to fight violence with violence in order to achieve his goal, but that does not change the horrible things he did in his lifetime or make them correct.

He planted bombs in public places multiple times on multiple occasions. His "freedom fighting" led to the deaths of many innocent civilians including women and children. He was a militant murderer with little regard for the scope of his actions. And no, Mandela was in charge when the ANC was burning people in the streets

In my opinion, he should not stand as a symbol of resistance against any form of tyranny. His fight involved too many innocent lives for me to get behind this guy. Just google "nelson mandela necklace killings" and see if you can stomach the torture he put people he felt were against him through.

Sorry for taking so long to reply to you, I wouldn't be able to reply to you in the right way posting from my cell phone.
Now, about the links you've given me:
The black on black violence during the later years of the apartheid is almost public knowledge, which doesn't mean that Mandela encouraged that. In fact, Mandela and other leaders of the ANC officially condemned the "necklace" practice (sorry for the part that said that the ANC "burned" people on the streets btw, I was half-asleep). It became a thing in the 80s and early 90s among half-independent street militants who would use it against black people who were deemed as "traitors" and accused of selling out to the government. Of course some of them were arbitrary, the blacks were at the eye of the storm back then. But how does that mean that Mandela "tortured civilians and watched them die"? Let's not forget that the south african state and the higher classes of South Africa encouraged this with propaganda and, mind you, "terrorist attacks", especially the boers. Also, can you really blame Mandela for rejecting the government's proposal of giving up on the fight? That would not end the segregation, and would probably leave the racial question in SA worse than it was before with all the street revolt.
Also, the numbers mentioned in that second article you've posted were released by the apartheid government. Mentioning data from a highly corrupt government is just painful historical inconsistency, man. The racist government largely ignored police violence, "secret" terrorist attacks carried out by white people, etc. Check out data from the UN at the time of the apartheid regime and see how it highly contradicts the ones released by the african government.
Also, my question stands still. Is George Washington a hero or a terrorist to you? The Revolutionary War killed lots of civilians too, man. The estimates go as far as 150,000 casualties.